Today I went to my car and discovered my CD player and CDs had been stolen. This would be the second time, but at least this time the window wasn't broken and they didn't mess up my car. I suppose I should be mad but it's not that momentous an event for me. Obviously someone wanted the CD player and some country music CDs. They're all easily replaceable with little trouble, unlike replacing a window like last time.

A little mishap like this shouldn't change my outlook about the world. Now that it's later in the day and I've had a few free minutes to ponder this event, I realize that this is just a minor hiccup in my life. I'm still quite fortunate, haven't experienced any major tragedies or been one of the downtrodden. So I'm still not going to lock my doors all the time, or secure my car before I leave it. The world is what we make of it, and I want to make it a good world.

I spent most of my day at work trying to get a Java servlet to run properly. It just seems like there are so many little details that have to be just right to get a networked program to work. And it's hard to debug since the output is in two different places. So after a few hours just to get it so that it's running and my client applet is sort of talking to it, I decide to quit before I do something drastic and violent.

It's crunch time. The pressure is on to get this protype done by Thursday. I'm writing the network code, another guy is writing the charting code, the last guy is writing the GUI applet and database code. Like any multi-person project, the hard part is making sure all the different pieces integrate and work together.

I've decided to take charge and get these people working together. Given no direction, we do a lot of work, but it's rather unfocused which doesn't get the immediate projects done. For a few weeks I let my project lead take charge, but unfortunately the situation has deteriorated and we're not making much headway. As the senior member of the group, it should be my job to keep us moving ahead.

This is something I only came up with Sunday night. Last week I was waiting for my review and wondering just what my job is. I'm a software developer, but if I don't take the additional responsibilities now, I shouldn't be promoted. If I want to get ahead I need to start acting like a senior developer and be a leader. Easier said than done, but I don't see any one else in the group taking charge.

I think I did an ok job when Pickering was in charge of the group (while the Tech Lead was away because of a family emergency). Pickering definitely lets you know what he expects from you in the next two days or whatever. And you don't want to disappoint him. So in that case I called meetings as need be and told people what they could do to help us get our deliverables done.

Since then though I've pretty much gone back to my old ways, doing my work but unfocused. I feel like this whole project is starting to stall, and maybe it's up to me to get everyone moving again. Or I could just be reading the whole situation wrong, since I don't have a crystal clear view of everything. Still, I'm the old man of the group (funny considering I've only been working here less than two years) so I have to start acting like it.